Working from home can be both rewarding and difficult. You get to work at your own place, which means working in pajamas if you want (we don’t judge!), but at the same time, it is easy to let distractions get in the way of productivity.
When working from home, there are a number of things that you can do to maintain focus and get the most out of it. Here are 12 tips for getting the most out of working at home.
1. Figure out what you want to accomplish in a workday
Before you start working, take time to figure out what you want to accomplish that day. You can do this by looking at your projects and setting goals on how much progress would be ideal for each one. This will help you to stay focused on working and getting tasks completed in a timely manner.
2. Establish working hours
Working from home does not mean working all day, every day. You should set working hours and take breaks just as if you were working outside your own home. This can be difficult without the structure of an office around you, but working in shifts will help you stay focused on working.
3. Create a working environment
Just like at an office, having an ideal working environment is key to maintaining focus and productivity when working from home. Make sure that you have a clean space where the only distractions come from the internet or phone calls related to work. To keep your working environment organized, keeping things like coffee cups and notepads out of sight while working can be helpful as well.
4. Schedule breaks in advance
As mentioned earlier, working all day can cause stress and anxiety that leads to decreased productivity over time. Take short breaks throughout the day just as if you were working outside your own home by scheduling them on your calendar. You could schedule a break after working for three hours. It all depends on how long you want your breaks to last and what works best for you.
5. Keep distractions out of reach while working
While working from home, it is easy to get distracted by things that are not related to work including social media and food. To avoid getting distracted by these things, keep them away while working so you can stay focused on the task at hand. This will allow you to maintain focus when working from home and maximize productivity levels as well.
6. Conduct internet research in batches instead of constantly
One big difference between working from home versus working outside of the house is access to the internet. It is easy to get sidetracked by internet searches about things that you are working on or tasks related to your job, which can cause a lack of productivity. Instead of conducting internet research continuously throughout the day while working from home, do it in batches at designated times.
8. Work with a team
Working with people can help keep you accountable and productive when working from home. Having an office environment where there are individuals working around you can make working more enjoyable and increase productivity levels as well. You could meet up for lunch if working outside the house to discuss projects or co-workers could come over on certain days to work together as well.
9. Limit distractions provided by working from home
While working in pajamas or working in your underwear might sound appealing, working from home can provide other types of distractions as well. It is easy to procrastinate on working when you have a large number of distractions at home that are related to taking naps and watching TV instead of working. To avoid these distractions, limit them by working during times where they do not occur.
10. Do boring work first
When working from home, it can be difficult to get started since there are so many things competing for your attention including working out, doing laundry and cleaning your house among other things. To maximize productivity levels while working from home, start with the most boring tasks first then move onto more exciting ones later in the day. By starting with the most boring tasks first, working from home will seem less like work and more like something that you are looking forward to.
12. Leave your house
While working in the comfort of your own home is great, working outside of the house provides other opportunities as well. Go out for a run or errands while working at times where working at home seems too difficult so you can maintain focus on working efficiently without distractions provided by working at home.
In conclusion
While working from home might be appealing due to flexibility and comfort, it can also be a distraction since there are so many other things competing for your attention when working inside of the same four walls all day long. To avoid these distractions, create a schedule with working times throughout the week and working hours during the day.
Also, working in batches instead of constantly can save time overall while working from home since you will not end up wasting time on distractions that are related to working on multiple projects at once.
Additionally, working with a team can help make working more fun while working outside of the house provides other opportunities as well. Not only is it important to work in batches when working from home but also limit distractions by shutting down social media accounts so you can get more done without distractions through social media platforms interfering with your workday.
